Cancer Archives – O'Connor Mortuary

5 11, 2014

Why You Should Know About Hospice

By Molly Keating| 2014-11-05T20:30:46+00:00 November 5th, 2014|Planning Ahead, Resources & Information|12 Comments

When hospice nurses were asked, what hospice is to them, they wrote the following: - Hospice is Being There - Hospice is Wishes Respected - Hospice is Having a choice to be home - Hospice is Telling the truth, even when it's hard - Hospice is a gift (source) Hospice. It can be a controversial word. For some, it stirs up anxiety, panic, fear, death - for others, comfort, a blessing, an answer. Many people limit hospice to being just about dying when, if you think about it, hospice really is about living the best you can with the [...]

22 10, 2014

An Interview with a Cancer Patient: Kori and Breast Cancer

By Molly Keating| 2014-10-22T21:30:55+00:00 October 22nd, 2014|News, Perspective|18 Comments

I've known Kori for a LONG time. Her story is one that can only be described as miraculous on steroids. For a long time Kori's story was drug addiction, alcoholism, theft, and prison. Change began happening in her and soon treatment and recovery were added to her story. At last, this year saw opening up before her a life of integrity and freedom that she began living with a tenacity and grace that amazed me. Then, 134 days ago, she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I sat down with her the day after her last chemo treatment to see [...]

22 04, 2014

A Cancer Journey: Lou Goes Home

By Molly Keating| 2014-04-22T22:00:29+00:00 April 22nd, 2014|Inspiration, Perspective, Seasons of Life|57 Comments

This is the final installation of our Head of Accounting's story as she watched her husband's life come to an end almost a year ago today. To read all of her story, click here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Part 4: Lou Goes Home "Happy Birthday, Babe! The day this blog posts will be your first birthday in heaven, and my first without you. I think I will go to Dana Point with Bella and April if she is free. Then have the family over for pizza. You know we lost Molly the first Sunday in March, so [...]

4 02, 2014

What Helps When You’re on the Front Line? | A Cancer Journey

By Molly Keating| 2014-02-04T20:46:26+00:00 February 4th, 2014|Perspective, Resources & Information|50 Comments

This is Part III of my story, to read Part I, or Part II, click here. { my husband Lou was diagnosed with cancer and given months to live. this is what happened to both of us as his life drew to an end. the people that touched me were angels and not many people read this part of the story. if you know someone on the front lines like i was, here's what you can do to help } Photo Courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/ajt It was amazing to us how quickly Lou lost basic strength and the [...]

10 12, 2013

Not an Earthquake After All, Just a Nightmare: A Cancer Journey

By Molly Keating| 2013-12-10T22:00:57+00:00 December 10th, 2013|General, Perspective|39 Comments

This is Part II of my story. To read Part I, click here. Lou, my husband, not only had an inoperable tumor on his lung, he also had a brain tumor that had metastasized to the cerebellum. It was all through his blood stream and would continue to settle where it wished. Photo Courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/Roob “How long do I have?” Lou asked. “8 to 12 weeks” she said gently. 2 to 3 months?? This could not be real. We walked to the car, and I said, “We take longer than that to plan our trips to [...]

25 09, 2013

It Started with An Earthquake: A Cancer Journey

By Molly Keating| 2013-09-25T05:00:08+00:00 September 25th, 2013|Inspiration, Perspective|58 Comments

I t S t a r t e d w i t h A n E a r t h q u a k e Photo Courtesy of iStock/sb-borg Thursday, January 3, 2013, 5 am. I am awakened out of a deep sleep to the sound of Lou’s voice, rather urgent. The room wasn’t shaking. It couldn’t be an earthquake. “Babe, you need to wake up. We’ve got a problem. I think you need to go to the hospital with me. I am coughing up blood. “ I jumped out of bed in [...]

15 05, 2013

“This is How We Die”: A Morning with a Hospice Nurse

By Molly Keating| 2013-05-15T05:00:16+00:00 May 15th, 2013|News, Planning Ahead, Seasons of Life|23 Comments

On Tuesday morning all I knew was that I was setting up an O'Connor table at the Heartland Hospice event that we were co-hosting. I got the table cloth & brochures all set out, greeted the attendees, and sat down in the back intending to "work" on my computer when the speaker, Barbara Karnes, a hospice nurse of 32 years, began speaking. She said, "I don’t want to pretend that this is all Truth with a Capitol T. This is MY experience. Dying is the hardest thing we live through." (and you do live through it, that is, until you [...]

14 08, 2012

Blindsided: a Book You Should Read

By Molly Keating| 2012-08-14T05:00:11+00:00 August 14th, 2012|General, Seasons of Life|20 Comments

Blindsided a book you should read. A few months ago I received an email from a gal named Arlene Blix. I didn’t know her, she didn’t know me. She told me she had written a book chronicling her husband’s battle with terminal cancer and she wanted to send it to me. I hesitated initially, I’m exclusively a fiction reader, non-fiction is not my cup of tea. I also didn’t want to send an empty promise to read it if I didn’t intend to. But I thought about it, decided I should and she sent me the book. Blindsided: Not only [...]

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